Los Duran Micromill - Adonay Rodriguez - Black Honey

The Los Duran family micromill is operated by Eduardo Duran and his three sons in the village of Sarchí in the West Valley of Costa Rica. The mill was originally built for the family to process their own coffee grown on the various plots throughout their property, and today they also purchase and process coffee grown by nearby producers like this lot grown by Adonay Rodríguez Madrigal. The Duran family opted for a traditional depulper instead of a high-end mechanical demucilager in their mill, which maintains more mucilage on the parchment coffee for Honey processing resulting in complex and unique profiles in the cup.

Adonay Rodríguez Madrigal operates Bajo de Virginio farm, also located in Costa Rica’s West Valley region. The farm was established in 1965 by Mr. Virginio Cubero Zamora, a farmer from the Naranjo area who had a vision to expand his production into the Trojas area. He purchased the property for Bajo de Virginio and established crops there, which today are overseen by his descendants including Adonay.

West Valley
The West Valley, or Valle Occidental, seems to have been created especially for coffee growing, with altitudes of 800-1400 meters above sea level, humidity consistently near 81%, and an average temperature of 21°C, all factors that promote a plentiful, healthy crop. Valle Occidental typically experiences rain for about 160 days each year. The start of the dry season in November coincides with the coffee harvest, which continues until February, often with a festive atmosphere during the Christmas holidays. Most local growers have small plantations and use sustainable agriculture and processing methods to produce Arabica beans with the balanced acidity and body for which West Valley coffee is world famous.